Encyclopedia of

Recovery room

Definition

The recovery room, also called a post-anesthesia care unit (PACU), is a
space a patient is taken to after surgery to safely regain consciousness
from anesthesia and receive appropriate post-operative care.

Description

Patients who have had surgery or diagnostic procedures requiring
anesthesia or sedation are taken to the recovery room, where their
vital signs
(e.g., pulse, blood pressure, temperature, blood oxygen levels) are
monitored closely as the effects of anesthesia wear off. The patient may
be disoriented when he or she regains consciousness, and the recovery room
nursing staff will work to ease their anxiety and ensure their physical
and emotional comfort.

The recovery room staff will pay particular attention to the
patient's respiration, or breathing, as the patient recovers from
anesthesia. A
pulse oximeter
, a clamp-like device that attaches to a patient's finger and uses
infrared light to measure the oxygen saturation level of the blood, is
usually used to assess respiratory stability. If the oxygen saturation
level is too low, supplemental oxygen may be administered through a nasal
cannula or face mask. Intravenous fluids are also frequently administered
in the recovery room.

Because general anesthesia can cause a patient's core body
temperature to drop several degrees, retaining body heat to prevent
hypothermia and encourage good circulation is also an important part of
recovery room care. Patients may be wrapped in blankets warmed in a heater
or covered with a forced warm-air blanket system to bring body temperature
back up to normal. They may also receive heated intravenous fluids.

The amount of time a patient requires in the recovery room will vary by
surgical or diagnostic procedure and the type of anesthesia used. As the
patient recovers
from anesthesia, their post-operative condition is assessed by the
recovery room nursing staff. A physician may order analgesic or antiemetic
medication for any pain or nausea and vomiting, and the surgeon and/or
anesthesiologist may come by to examine the patient.

Both hospitals and ambulatory surgical centers have recovery room
facilities, which are generally located in close proximity to the
operating room
. A recovery room may be private, or it may be a large, partitioned space
shared by many patients. Each patient bay, or space, is equipped with a
variety of medical monitoring equipment. To keep the area sterile and
prevent the spread of germs, outside visitors may be required to don a
gown and cap or may be prohibited completely. Spouses or partners of women
who are recovering after caesarean section and the parents of children
recovering from surgery are typically excluded from any visitor
prohibitions in the recovery room. In fact, parents are usually encouraged
to be with their child in recovery to minimize any emotional trauma.

In some ambulatory surgery facilities, patients may have a different
post-operative experience if they receive short-acting anesthetic drugs
for their procedure. This protocol, known as "fast
tracking," involves either shortening the time spent in the PACU
or, if clinically indicated, bypassing the PACU altogether and sending the
patient directly to what is known as a phase II step-down unit. A
step-down unit is an "in between" transitional care area
where patients can rest and recover before discharge with a lesser degree
of monitoring and staff attention then in a PACU.

Normal results

After the effects of anesthesia have worn off completely and the
patient's condition is considered stable, he or she will either be
returned to their hospital room (for inpatient surgery) or discharged (for
outpatient surgery
). Patients who are discharged will be briefed on post-operative care
instructions to follow at home before they are released.

Cassie - I don't know if anybody has got back to you get, but incase you are panicking (and I am NOT a specialist in this field, I am a Registered Nurse) ... Yes it normal to be woken by a nurse/Dr in recovery room. Your body needs to regain somekind of consciousness(and not by physical stimuli) to take the ETT or LA tube (breathing apparatus) from your airways and that you are able to maintain good patent airways - patients tend NOT to remember this stage. You have continual observations on you both physical and visual - part of those observations is a rousal/conscious score. The other reason might be that you sleeping to deeply and your breathing resp may have been low (and rousing you rectifies that!). I am a nurse now, but I have been a patient in your position many times before that and now what you mean! I also know that it feels like they are waking you up constantly every 5mins but reality it is probably every 30 - 60 mins. Hope it helps somewhat!

I had a recto plexi in jan 2011, i am still having considerable pain in my passage and my righ side above my hip. I am taking gabapentin to help with the pain. I am still in considerable pain.
can anyone give me advice pls.
sarah

How long is reasonable or normal for a child to be left in the recovery room? My niece was recently left for one and a half hours in full hearing of groaning adults also coming round it was pretty unpleasant.

After pelvic prolapse surgery, my stay in the recovery room stretched to 5 hours. What was to be out-patient surgery turned into a 4 day hospital stay. I came around in recovery and heard 'give her more Epi, now', and remember asking a stupid question, at which point I was aware of the bed being dropped and my head going down and my feet up, I beleive the trendelenburg or whatever position and then I went back out. I never was told why I was in recovery for 5+hours instead of the very short time I was supposed to be there, or why my outpatient turned into a several day stay. I want to know why Epi was administered to me, evidentially more that once during this recovery, if possible. What scenarios would warrant this? As I had this problem with being put under, it scared me because in watching medical programs,what I saw giving epi is not good, and I have delayed a needed colonoscopy because I will have to be put to sleep because I was not able to be sedated properly for the last one and could not be given more sedation, and endured it in what you might as well call an unsedated state.

The doctors that did this surgery skated around the questions I had and I was never able to get an answer. I need to dispell my fears to have this 6 yr. overdue colonoscopy. Any answers? Am I crazy about nothing? Thanks.